Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you find some helpful hints for organizing your time and space. My passions are to help you make home a refuge instead of a crisis center, and to help you function in peace rather than chaos - at home or at work. I have switched my main blog to 1-2-3 ... Get Organized on WordPress, so please visit me there.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

It's the last day of school for our girls! I always look forward to a less structured schedule. It's busy, but a different kind of busy.

Summer is a wonderful time to invest in our foster daughters. We're hoping to use the summer to build some character as well as have fun. We can be intentional about the positive influencers in their lives and minimize the negative ones.

It's also a time when it's hard to have some personal "refill" time, as my mom calls it. When I plan each week, I will make it a priority to find some time to myself.

When you need a creative idea, here's another activity to do when everything sounds boring: a treasure hunt dinner.

Treasure Hunt Dinner

Have four courses (veggie platter, fruit salad, entree, dessert) and hide them in or out of the house, depending on the weather. I use coolers if needed.

Make up three clues for each course. You read the first clue. From then on, whoever finds the clue reads it. He/she must wait until everyone is there and can hear or until everyone has finished that course.

When you find a course, you must eat it where you find it - in the garage, in the bathroom - make it fun!

When everyone is finished with a course, give out the next clue and continue. At each course, you can ask a question everyone has to answer: Where would you like to visit? What is your favorite color and why? Who is your favorite person in history? What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

This is a fun event to do for birthday parties, when your kids have friends visiting, or just as a family. It's a bit of work, but a fun memory.

See sample clues below.

Dinner #1

Clue #1 – my hand
It’s not in the mixer
It’s not in the toaster
It’s on the first floor
In a drawer with coasters.

Clue #2 – Coaster drawer
It’s not on a cow
It’s not on an ox
But it’s where we get our mail
A big white box.

Clue #3 – Mail box
Go down one floor
Between two chairs
It’s in the ice bucket
But who cares?

Veggies/dip in the basement

Clue #4 – Ice bucket between chairs
Go to the room
Where you take a bath
Open the cupboard
You’re on the right path.

Clue #5 – basement bathroom
A bunch of books
In the second floor hall
Look for “Virtue”
Not hard at all.

Clue #6 – Book of Virtues
Go out the back
Open a door
Look in a cooler
Near the floor

Breschetta/bread in the cooler in garage

Clue #7 – In garage
Go up the stairs
To the second floor
Look under the tissues
Not in a drawer

Twitter Updates

My Facebook Profile

Become a Fan of 1-2-3...Get Organized on Facebook

Get Our Button

Need Some Attention? Advertise Here!

If you need some extra exposure, consider advertising on 1-2-3...Get Organized, like these fine businesses:

Concept Design Studios

Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional

Organizing Solutions for Kids

Campus Calm University

I'm An Organizing Junkie says ....

"I know I've reviewed a few organizing books in a row now but I've got another great set to tell you about that I think you're going to like. Professional Organizer Beverly Coggins has created a 1-2-3...Get organized series of seven mini books to help you organize your life one book at a time.

The seven books are as follows:- Three Steps to Organizing your Child's Room- Three Steps to Decluttering- Three Steps to Organizing your Kitchen- Three Steps to Organizing your Office- Three Steps to Time Management for the Stay-at-Home Mom- Three Steps to Clever Cleaning- Three Steps to Time Management at the Office

Each books consists of three main steps with each step offering plenty of tips and advice broken down into quick and easy to read points.

I'll tell you what I love most about these books. Not only are they small but the plastic glossy pages are wonderfully durable making them perfect for throwing into your purse to take out and read whenever you are stuck in a "hurry up and wait" situation. I also love the colorful pages as presentation is very important to me.

For those a little more ambitious and wanting to really get serious about getting organized she offers a workbook series that comes complete with checklists, questionnaires and templates on CD. Some of the titles include Three Steps to Downsizing to a Smaller Residence, Three Steps to Time Management for the Working Mom and Three Steps to Planning Dinner. These do-it-yourself guides are very thorough with Bev carefully walking you through each step of the process.

Now I've saved the best for last. One of the other things Bev includes in some of her packages is a Hassle Free Dinners CD. This CD is a menu planners dream and you all know how I feel about menu planning! It offers 52 dinner menus complete with step-by-step instructions and recipes along with coordinating color-coded weekly shopping lists. I am very impressed with how much work this must have been to put together especially since everything you need to put quick, nutritious, sophisticated meals on the table is included! She also didn't repeat an entree for the entire year either! Well done Bev!"